What happened to humanity?

I keep wondering when and how people started treating empathy like a flaw instead of a strength. How did compassion become something to mock or dismiss? How did we reach a point where people who claim to be ethical or faithful look at the suffering of their neighbor and feel only disdain?

Reasonable people can disagree on border policy, but there is no room for debate when it comes to the cruel and demeaning treatment of others. When we watch human beings snatched off the streets, stripped of due process, treated with brutality, and shipped off to prison camps with no way out, our reaction should be horror, not indifference. And where are the ethics and morals of those who actively engage in this government sanctioned violent thuggery under the guise of “immigration enforcement” knowing they will suffer no consequences for their actions?

No one deserves to be denied their basic right to dignity and humane treatment. Jesus never said “Feed the hungry only if they have papers, clothe the naked only if they’re from your country, welcome the stranger only if there is no risk, help the poor only if it’s convenient, love your neighbor only if they look like you.”

It takes no effort to belittle a different culture, but it takes a strong character to accept and seek to understand one. Our greatest challenge is not defending our borders and our biases; it’s expanding our empathy to include those we don’t yet understand.

Becky Birch

Marengo